How to Help Children

With the Christmas season upon us, children are anticipating the gifts they’ll receive. We are all looking for a way to make a difference. It seems that there are so many charitable organizations that are seeing and receiving donations. Recently, I was talking to a friend who is a foster parent and has adopted four children through Child Protective Services. She was talking about collecting first night
bags for children who have been removed by Child Protective Services. Often
these children come into the system with nothing. As a result, they are in a traumatic
situation with nothing of comfort nor practical items for care. These bags would be something that the children would have of their own, meet their immediate needs and hopefully show them that someone cares. This was
something that I thought my family would love to be involved in due to my
husband’s childhood and our call to care for orphans.

Success

My husband, Richard, was the third of three boys. By the time he was school age, he had experienced more of life than most have as adults. One particular time as a child, he was removed from his family and placed in a shelter. Being shuffled from place to place, he would have loved to have been the recipient of something that showed that someone cared, like a first night bag.

He experienced a long journey of abuse, neglect, trauma and eventually the murder of his father. Through it all, he learned to
persevere. Furthermore, while having a demanding upper management position in the restaurant business, he successfully navigated college and landed in an Ivy League Law School.
As a result of his journey, he has worked hard to create a life that is peaceful and contributes to the community around him. He is now in a successful private law practice making a difference in others’ lives.

Give Back

Most importantly we would like to help the children. We decided that our
businesses, Speak Volumes, Inc. and Horton Archibald, P.C would like to collect first night bags for
the children placed in CPS custody. These bags will be distributed through Hunt
County CPS Offices. Finally, we are collecting them during office hours, 8-5, at Horton Archibald, 1020 W Ralph Hall Pkwy #105, Rockwall, TX 75032. We invite
you to join us in blessing these children during their difficult season. We
hope you and yours have a most joyous Christmas season!

It is the day after The Oscars and what a show it was! It started out wonderfully with Justin Timberlake. He was incredible! I loved how he interacted with the crowd. He danced with his wife and was amazing wooing everyone in the audience. Then the awards began.

My favorites of the night included Emma Stone, best actress, (who was accompanied by her brother….so cute!). She looked stunning. I also was happy to see Nicole Kidman, who made me cry like a baby in Lion and Keith Urban, who we just saw at The Grammys. Viola Davis is always amazing and I was rooting for her. We have been playing La La Land soundtrack tirelessly and were thrilled for those songwriters and artists.

One of my absolute favorite singer/songwriters is Sarah Barielles, who moved us all with the In Memorium tribute to those who have passed away. Some of those are a part of memories that will forever be a part of my life. I miss them!

Fast forward to the Best Picture award. I cannot even watch this! It is terribly painful! My heart hurts for them. Wow! For those of you living outside of LalaLand, here is a clip. I was impressed with the grace shown and it was handled as best it could be.

It is obvious that The Oscars is the culmination of hours of training and coaching on so many different levels. Training for physical appearances, speech coaching, vocal coaching were for this night. It was a night to shine.

There are more awards coming up and I am helping people get ready for interviews and speeches. It is my hope that with training, my clients will shine in interviews and speeches. If you are facing interview opportunities or preparing for speeches, please reach out to me. I would love to assist you. If you aren’t able to schedule a session, I have Ace Your Interview available on my website.

My daughter loves to hike. For her birthday this year, all she wanted was to go hiking. We were thrilled that she wanted to spend time with us and have something that would give us all a wonderful memory. Little did we know how memorable it would be.

We started the day early since we were driving out of state and the actual hike would take hours. Thankfully we stopped by Chick Fil A for breakfast and headed north. We got to the park where we were planning to hike and stopped in a local coffee shop to get coffee and go to the bathroom. Then headed to the park for our hike.

When we got to the area where the trail was supposed to begin, the road was no longer there. But we didn’t think too much of it and hiked a little around the river. I was carrying a huge water bottle and it started to get on my nerves. Then we went to another spot to start our hike. The sign for this particular hike said 6 miles. We thought, “that’s not bad”; I decided to not even take my water. My kids left their phones in the car and we began our trek.

The beginning of the hike was wonderful. The weather was perfect. We climbed and saw awesome views. After we had gone at least 8 miles, we got to a spot that had a sign with a warning that said “STOP this is for experienced hikers, have water, etc….” We thought it can’t be that much farther, since we had already been 8 miles. This was a 6 mile hike…right? Boy, were we wrong.

What did that mile marker say???

We climbed a steep, straight inclines, only to have to immediately go down. This went on for a while. I had gotten quite parched and began to drink out any stream that I saw. My husband even filled up his water bottle (which is telling about how thirsty we were because he thinks that is disgusting.) We noticed mile markers that had numbers like mile 20. I looked on my phone and saw that we were miles away from our car. I began to feel very uneasy and had a little meltdown. After the meltdown, I felt much better. (My poor husband)

We walked until there was no longer a trail. My son had gone ahead and we had not seen him in a few miles. We called for him and heard no call back. We could hear the sound of cars, however. It was around 4:15 and we were unsure of how far it was to the road. I did not want to spend the night out there and we were all getting nervous about the whereabouts of our son.

Our Rescue

We stopped on a log and got our bearings. And called 911 who sent us to the park rangers. This part gets weird. I spoke with Mike and dropped a pin to our location and Mike said they would be there in 10 minutes. After 30 minutes, I texted and called Mike. No response.

Meanwhile, my husband walked over to a clearing and could see the road and a park ranger, who flashed his siren. That ranger walked toward us. He told us he had our son, who had thrown up 4 times and was delirious. After we spoke with him, it happened that a couple we had seen on the trail had been picked up by Mike. He thought that had been us. No, it wasn’t! Finally, Mike came down the hill and picked us up and took us to our car. We loved those park rangers! Best people ever!

After all that excitement, we stopped at the coffee shop again to refuel us. And headed home. Much laughter and storytelling filled the car and I’m sure will fill our lives for years to come. What a memory!

Thanks for your time! I’d love to connect with you on social media. I am Kelly Archibald there.

I had a client come in preparing for a job fair and we know how important a First Impression is in that situation. The job fair is at the university he attended and in his major. He and the other candidates will all be on equal footing. You may wonder why he would come seeking speech coaching for this.

Most importantly, he has only about 2 minutes to make an impression on the human resource representatives he meets with. We all know that it takes 17 seconds to make a first impression and 27 interactions to overcome that first impression if it is bad. He is not going to get another chance to connect with those people.

First Impression

Confident body language

Build rapport with interviewer

SMILE

First, one of the ways to make a great first impression that we talk about in the course, Ace Your Interview, is confident body language. There are so many facets to that, but one of the most important is how one carries himself. The client I was working with had good posture for the most part, but when we started talking about it, it got even better. His shoulders went back and his back became straighter. Walking into the situation with an air of confidence can help your chances greatly and it always helps to smile.

Also, there are subtleties in our body language that help build rapport. We discuss these in more detail in the course, but the general ones of eye contact and open body language help to create a sense of trust. That can help a candidate connect with the interviewer.

We show in Interview Do’s and Don’ts both an overbearing and a timid candidate. Of course, these are a little exaggerated, but the concept remains. Matching the interviewers communication style can help get a an advantage in this highly competitive world.

Because of this candidate’s great ability to use these techniques, he is going to ace this job fair.

Finally, if you have any questions about preparing for any situation like I mentioned, please reach out to me.

Have you ever had your feelings hurt by someone? They may have used words that weren’t so bad, but their tone was biting. While you may not think a great deal about the tone of your voice, it is something you should consider paying attention to. As I have said in the e-course, Ace Your Interview, it takes only 17 seconds to make a first impression and takes 27 interactions to overcome that impression if it’s bad. Why does this matter? Because we live in a fast paced, competitive world and in order to get ahead, we need to make sure we nail that first impression. As a result, vocal tone is one of those things that can lead to an impression.

Two aspects of vocal tone:

Our natural voice

The tone of our words

First, our natural voice is one that we are born with. It can be influenced by our demographics, culture and family. An example I speak about in the video is Edith Bunker. Her voice alone creates a characterization in the listeners’ mind. She comes across as ditzy and whiny. Do we want our listeners to think this about us? I don’t believe we do. Vocal training can easily change the tone.

Next, a most important part of our vocal tone is how we use it to convey underlying opinions or feelings. We have all experienced people who can cut you to the core with their tones. They can use the right words, but their tone conveys a very different message. In the video, I use the phrase, “You are going to wear that?”. That phrase can be said joyfully and be encouraging or it can be said condescendingly and cut to the core.

Furthermore, I hope that you understand how important tone is in communicating. Since we find it so imperative,we have more information on nonverbal communication in the video Interview Do’s and Don’ts.

Finally, I love meeting new people and am so grateful for you! Please keep in touch on social media; I am Kelly Archibald there.

Do you feel like your speech could improve? Would you like to have a better voice? A better tone? A better rate of speech? Would you like to reduce your accent? Are you preparing for an interview for a public speaking engagement and you need tip and tricks on how to make that successful? I would love to help you!

Who am I?
First of all, let me introduce myself, my name is Kelly Archibald and I have helped hundreds of clients meet their speech goals. I have worked with pageant winners, actors, singers, students and professionals.

Why am I able to help?

Due to my background, I am able to be empathetic to clients. I had a vocal performance scholarship and I studied speech pathology. Those two educational experiences gave me a great deal of knowledge about the voice and about getting in front of an audience. I understand the nervousness that we all feel when we have to put ourselves out there. I know what has worked for me and my clients and I love getting to know what will help each individual with whom I work.

Areas We Target

Body Language

Voice

Tone

Accent Reduction

Rate of Speaking

Preparation

One of the most important tools of communicating is body language. Since this is so important, we offer a video, . We are able to give clients tweaks that will help create rapport with their audience.

Another area we assist clients with is in helping to create a pleasant voice. Voices that are nasal, strident or raspy can be distracting and pleasant for the listener.

While you may think it can’t be improved, the tone of a speaker’s voice can be improved with work.

Also important in speaking is having intelligible speech. We don’t ever want speakers to lose their uniqueness or their culture, but want them to be effective communicators. We can help with this by reducing some of the prosody and sounds that interfere with intelligibility.

In addition to these areas, rate of speech is an area that we can help clients improve upon.

Finally, the area of preparation is always one that clients reach out for help with.

Because effective communication is imperative in today’s society, it sometimes is necessary to ask for coaching. We love helping people meet their goals. As a result, we would love to help you. In addition to online coaching, we offer a video course, Ace Your Interview.

Most importantly, you are unique and important. Your experience and personality help you contribute. Consequently, you speak volumes.

Finally, I would love to keep in touch….you can find me on social media at Kelly Archibald.

First of all you may be wondering what is “speech coaching” and if you need it. You may think that you have all the skills you need to be successful in an interview. As much as I hope for your sake that you are right, you may find room for improvement. However, if you are curious about what these areas of improvement could be, I would love for you to continue. The term “speech coaching” is a little broad and can be a bit confusing. Let me see if I can clear up what you would benefit from purchasing our course or a coaching session.

Did you know?

It takes 17 seconds to make a first impression

It takes 27 interactions to overcome that first impression if it is bad

Most people don’t realize two facts. Importantly, one fact is that first impressions are made in 17 seconds and it takes 27 interactions to overcome a bad first impression. Can you remember a person who made a bad first impression in your life? They probably left a bad taste in your mouth and it was hard to think of them differently than that first way. You can find out more about this in the video, How to Make a Great First Impression. Also important, is the second fact, that about 93% of communication is nonverbal or body language. This makes up a great deal of our first impression.

Body Language

Since people running for office are judged, you see them make a lot of conscious choices as far as body language. They want to present as honest, likable and open people, whether they are or not. This is achieved by open body language. Our family watches the television show Modern Family. One of the episodes of that sitcom shows precisely what I am referring to. Claire is running for office and her family critiques her before she debates her opponent. A lot of the changes they suggest she make are differences in body language. She is coached to not point, not touch her hair, not clinch her fists. In addition to her family’s critiques, she get slammed by her oponant. It ends up a fiasco for her and, of course, that is for comedy. This does not have to be the case for you!

Furthermore, in a speech coaching session, we like to focus on what you do well. Each of us has strengths in life and in communication. We build on those strengths. While building on your strengths, we will eliminate the practices that don’t work for your benefit. Because we have heard that practice makes perfect, we sometimes are hard on ourselves. We don’t really have perfect speech but we can effectively communicate what we desire. In an interview situation , a speech coach can help in practicing how to prepare for the interview, how to use body language for your advantage and create the impression of confidence and success. Let us help you have success.

Finally, we have three free videos from Ace Your Interview that we would like to send you, directly to your email. Let’s start today.
Thank you for watching! Let’s connect on social media…I’m Kelly Archibald there.

Would you like to make a great first impression? Do you even know what that looks like or doesn’t look like? We are here to help! Because we like to laugh while educating, this comical video by some awesome actors will help you identify some things to do and things not to do. Whether you are a student, a budding professional or a seasoned professional, this course, Ace Your Interview, can help you learn how to interview and make a great first impression. First of all, watch the video, you can see different scenarios of people making a first impression.

Body Language of the Candidates

Can you find the following?

Arrogance

Shame

Confidence

First of all, interview candidate number one, comes into the office well dressed and very confident, but is talking on the phone. It is as if the receptionist is a bother to him. The phone call takes his attention. This is very rude and makes a poor first impression. In addition to the first, you can see the second interview candidate comes into the office well dressed and seems to be confident, but that fades away once she starts asking about the other candidates and appears desperate for the job.

Another candidate, the third, came in well dressed and confident. She was nice to the receptionist, but started speaking negatively about her current boss and co-workers. Because of that, she creates an impression that this will be done about anyone this person comes in contact with, which is not a good first impression.

In contrast of the previous, the fourth candidate comes in and makes quite a first impression! His dress is inappropriate, he is loud, obnoxious, and demanding to the receptionist. Rather than using manners, he also takes a phone call while the receptionist is attempting to speak with him. There are all sorts of “what not to do” with this candidate.

While the others don’t perform well, the fifth and final candidate comes in dressed appropriately and confidently. He engages with the receptionist and compliments her. He makes a great first impression. While interviewing, the receptionist will greet you and be first person with whom you will come into contact. It is very important to treat this one ushering you in with respect.

Most important, this first impression can be hard to overcome. It takes 27 interactions to overcome a bad first impression. The receptionist can speak well or ill of how you treat him or her. Would you prefer that that person has a positive impression and reaction to you? I definitely would! I want that person to have such an impression that they will have a favorable account of me. That could make a huge difference in how the people making the decisions rate the candidates. This course can help you with making a great first impression. I would love to keep in touch on social media….Kelly Archibald is where you’ll find me. 🙂

When going into an interview situation, there are a few things that you need to keep in mind.

Interview Tips

First Impression

*It takes 17 seconds to make a first impression

This little fact makes your overall appearance and body language of utmost importance. You have to come into an interview prepared to look and be your best. We discuss this further in our e-course, that you can find on our site.

*It takes 27 interactions to overcome a bad first impression. You are not going to be able to have 27 interactions with your interviewer, so this should press upon you how incredibly important it is to nail the first interaction.

Body language makes up 93% of what is communicated. We discuss body language in the video, Body Language.

How to Prepare for an Interview

One of the best ways to prepare for an interview is to do your homework. Research the place of business or entity with which you are interviewing. You will be able to answer questions more easily if you have practiced before you go into the interview. There are numerous sites that offer examples of interview questions.

Another tip we have for interview preparation is to know yourself and know how you deal with your nervousness. This is something that will benefit you for a lifetime. We help clients identify how they feel and how they are able to create a calm, confident demeanor.

Be aware of body language. Closed body language or nervous body language can create an air that is tense. It is a stressful situation and we understand that, so does te interviewer. You can, however, control your body language and present well.

Prepare for your route and travel. Nothing can get me more flustered than to not know where I am going or how to get there. Preparing for this can be a game changer and decrease a lot of stress

How to Answer Interview Questions

We coach clients at Speak Volumes, Inc. in areas of speech that not only include body language, but oral language as well. Answering interview questions well and matching communication styles with your interviewer can really help your chances of rapport. We discuss rapport more thoroughly in the course Ace Your Interview. Building rapport is an art that can be trained and can be critical in an interview.

Thank you for watching! I’d love to keep in touch! You can find me on social media as Kelly Archibald.

First of all, how did I get to this place where I am a Speech and Voice Coach? The map that has led me to this spot on my speaking-voice coach journey has been sprinkled with many turns. I decided to be a public
speaking and voice coach with prompting form my attorney husband. With his encouragement and help we formed a business, Speak Volumes, Inc.

Here are some of the steps that got me here.

Public Speaking and Voice Coaching

My husband was looking for public speaking and voice coaching to help with presence and projection in the court room. We searched in vain for someone to help him. As a result, he thought I would be qualified to help. You may ask why he would think that. I grew up singing and had a vocal performance scholarship in college. I studied Speech Pathology and have worked in many different setting providing speech therapy. Some of the people with whom I’ve worked includes children, adults, ESL students, actors, singers, and business professionals. All of this experience has given me knowledge, skills and wisdom working with people from all walks of life.

Connecting

Most of all, I enjoy meeting new people and learning about them. I’d love to connect with you on social media; I am Kelly Archibald. Since launching this business, I have worked with many people and dealt with all sorts of different experiences. I have helped pageant contestants with preparing for their interviews and public speaking. This is a very stressful experience and preparation is key. Other clients that I have had the pleasure of helping are business professionals who have speaking engagements. Helping coach them to make the best impression on their audience is always interesting. One of my favorite experiences has been with dealing with the media. I enjoy connecting with the media and coaching clients for interviews.

I hope you have gotten some insight on my journey. All of these experiences and my education have brought me to this place. It’s my desire that you would allow me to join you on your journey and help you deliver the right message. We have an e-course Ace Your Interview that is convenient, easy to follow, and relevant that we are offering. This course has tips, techniques and downloads that will help you have success in the interviewing process. Make sure you get this today! GET STARTED

I want to thank you for watching. I would love to help coach you on your journey. Please connect with me and stay in touch!